Don’t get distracted from your ICP
I had an epiphany in my late thirties, which transformed my life and changed how I saw the world. This epiphany is also vital for business and marketing:
“I am not for everybody, and everybody is not for me.” – Dave Hayward (way too late in life)
This realisation is a central concept to success as a human being – but it’s also critical to the success of a thriving business. Today’s article will explore ideal customer profiles (ICP) and associated strategies to connect your business to your perfect match.
The most thriving relationships are created when you know who benefits the most from your products and services – your ICP — and they’re ready to buy.
Everyone is not for me.
I had been single for a long time, searching for that special someone and not getting anywhere. One day, it hit me: like anyone, I am my own person, made up of elements like my tastes, interests, and bundle of life experiences particular to me. That doesn’t even include my downsides (e.g., constantly losing my keys).
Similarly, everyone is not for me. I won’t go for someone mean or excessively materialistic; it would be bad for both of us if a sense of humour weren’t there. It meant a different kind of numbers game. Peter Backus, a PhD candidate from the University of Warwick, wrote a paper titled “Why I Don’t Have a Girlfriend” using a modified version of Drake’s Equation to codify the characteristics of the situation in a mathematical formula.
This was liberating. If a date wasn’t working out, it was nothing personal. Not everyone was my ideal partner, and I wasn’t everyone’s perfect partner. The good news is that this realisation directly led me to meet somebody incredible. We’re married now ❤️.
Find your ICP and stay focused on them.
From finding love to selling products
Just as this insight transformed my personal life, it holds for business. Your company, product, and people have corresponding ideal customer profiles. Your energies and focus from product to marketing should be laser-focused on them.
Try to please everyone and end up pleasing nobody.
I see it all the time: brands are trying to reach too many people, and diluted messaging is a common issue. You must take a position to stand out, and it’s impossible to take any position if you’re focused on pleasing everyone. Outstanding creative can mean impressing one audience and potentially annoying the hell out of another.
Nike’s 2018 campaign featuring Colin Kaepernick demonstrates the power of absolute focus on their ICPs. (c) Nike
Bold positioning: Nike
Cadbury successfully pivoted back to their long-standing brand promise for its ICPs: “A Glass And A Half Of Full Cream Milk” (c) Cadbury
Cadbury (cautionary) tale
Conversely, confectionery maker Cadbury alienated New Zealand consumers when it started using palm oil. Its marketing had centred around “A Glass And A Half Of Full Cream Milk,” and the perceived deviation from that messaging (alongside environmental and ethical concerns) sparked a consumer backlash. This opened the door to competitors, notably Whittaker’s Chocolate, grabbing market share. They responded quickly by reversing their decision, and have continued to double-down successfully on their “Glass And A Half…” concept.
Your ICPs are your foundation for success.
An ICP is a detailed description of the type of customer who would benefit most from your product or service. It helps you focus your marketing and product development on high-value, high-fit customers.
Key elements for building your ICP include:
- Analysing your current customers: Identify your most loyal and profitable clients
- Understanding your product’s unique value: Determine what problem you solve and who needs that solution most
- Segmenting your market: Divide your audience into specific groups and prioritise those with the highest potential
Patagonia’s laser focus on their purpose and their ICPs lead to this innovative campaign. (c) Patagonia
Patagonia: “Don’t Buy This Jacket”, says jacket retailer
Patagonia is a brand that consistently messages well for its ICPs. Their ICPs are environmentally conscious outdoor enthusiasts. Their marketing speaks directly to these ICPs, with campaigns like “Don’t Buy This Jacket,” challenging consumerism while building brand loyalty… and selling jackets.
The business of bonding with your ICP
Now we get to the work. How do we find our ICP? Once we reach them, how do we engage them? That’s when you need talented brand and performance marketers. You need a great strategy with tactical elements that include:
- Tailored messaging: speaking to the customer’s pain points, reflecting their values
- Focused channel strategy: right channel, right audience. TikTok is a good candidate if you’re a B2B brand selling to Gen Z. Meanwhile, a B2B selling to old Gen Xers like me: Linkedin.
- Build relationships, not transactions: be generous with your ideas and give value to your ICPs. They will reward you.
- Personalisation: these days, with AI enabling personalisation at scale, showing customers you care about them is getting insanely easy….. just as long as you don’t stray into the ” creepy ” territory!
Spotify Wrapped is a triumph of targeted, personalised marketing at scale. (c) Spotify
How Spotify wrapped up it’s ICPs
A great example of personalisation and tailored messaging: “Spotify Wrapped”. Offering users personalised annual summaries of their listening habits has become almost a proprietary eponym, spawning a whole genre of “Unwrapped” end-of-year recaps. The content doesn’t just engage the target; it’s highly sharable and often super interesting.
The power of narrow focus
By narrowing your focus, you’ll find that clarity, strategy, and execution all become easier. When making creative decisions, you’ll be making them through the lenses of your brand and customers, not based on your (personal) taste and proclivities.
Benefits include efficiency in marketing spending, clarity of brand messaging, and better sleep at night because you are no longer trying to please everyone. Meanwhile, the downsides of not doing this include wasting money and resources and exhausting yourself for much less reward.
The paradox is that the more specific you get, the more generally attractive you become.
Embrace your identity
As I’ve aged, I’ve become much more comfortable in my own skin. That’s what you need to do as a business: know who you are for and what you are about, and be confident that you are not for everyone. This strategy is not just successful in life—it’s essential for winning at business.
We at Europa Creative Partners identify your ideal customers and help them buy your products and services. Please get in touch if you’d like to explore this further. Tips on love life are a bonus (and probably not worth following!).